The Robertsville Rams defeated Horace Maynard 52-26 in the Area 2-AAA semifinals Monday to earn an East Tennessee AAA Sectional berth.

Taijon Jones led nine Rams in scoring on the night with 17 points while filling the stat sheet with five steals, three rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Robertsville (21-0) jumped out to a 18-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back, outscoring the Red Devils in every quarter.

Tee Higgins wasn’t far behind Jones with 16 points and seven steals. Demarea Whitt had five steals and a pair of assists and rebounds to go with his three points.

Markell Row led the team in rebounds with seven and had six points. Jacob Gross had six boards and two points.

The Rams found out late Tuesday night who they would play in Thursday’s boys championship game at Clinton Middle. The championship will be at 8 p.m.

Horace Maynard 31, Robertsville girls 26

The Lady Rams came out slow to start and that spelled trouble as they lost to the Lady Red Devils.

The No. 4-seed HMMS girls held Robertsville scoreless through the first quarter and led by five, 11-6, at halftime before the Lady Rams cut it close.

A bucket to start the fourth quarter tied the game at 17, but Robertsville (18-6) could not keep up at the free-throw line, where the team went 6-of-23 shooting for the game — 2 of 9 in the first half.

“We came out very timid,” coach Scott Hinton said. “We looked out of rhythm. We looked like a team that hadn’t played since Saturday against Jefferson.”

Makayla Johnson led the Lady Rams with nine points. Courtney Ellison had seven.

Jacksboro 28, Jefferson girls 27

Up two with 3.7 seconds left to play, Jefferson (16-8) watched as Jacksboro inbounded the ball and put up a halfcourt shot that banked in to break their hearts and put them in the consolation game against RMS.

“It is very disappointing that one of the top two teams in the district has to go home (Tuesday) when we both should be advancing,” coach Katie Saxe said. “But, that’s what happens when you don’t show up to play.”

The winner of last night’s late game between Jefferson and Robertsville advanced to the Sectional.

The Jefferson boys also played their first game of the tournament Tuesday. Results from the Eagles and Lady Eagles-Lady Rams games will be in Thursday’s edition of The Oak Ridger.